Hollywood
Hollywood BO expects three tentpoles to gross over $50 million over the weekend
MUMBAI: Hollywood box office seems to be glistening bright with the industry expecting the three tentpoles raking in over $50 million over the weekend. Leading amongst the three is Pixar‘s 3D toon prequelMonsters University with an opening of $25 to $28 million on Friday. While sources predict the animated flick to gross over $75 million, it is certain to be Pixar‘s second highest opening ever, even bigger than Cars and outsellingBrave, but behind Toy Story 3.Monster University is currently playing in 4,004 screens across 35 territories.
Placing No. 2 is Paramount and Skydance Productions‘ World Z which is looking smart at $20 million Friday and $50 mn – $55 mn over the weekend. This comes as a relief to the studio after all that pre-release bad buzz for Brad Pitt‘s zombie picture. Brad‘s zombies are crawling across 3,607 theatres world-wide.
Following closely is the last week‘s top opener Man of Steel with $17 million – $19 million. The ner Bros‘ and Legendary Pictures‘ red capped superhero soared across 4,207 screens with a world-wide collection of over $200 million in its first week and is expected to gross over $50 million over this weekend too.
Astonished by the performances, Hollywood executives comment that there‘s never been a 3-day weekend with 3 different movies doing $50 million domestic box office. Their statistics show only one original movie a year opening over $50 million since originals play better than franchises on account of people discovering them over the coming weeks.
Hollywood
Paramount Skydance secures financing for Warner Bros Discovery deal
Debt syndication and new loans push $111 billion merger closer to close
WASHINGTON: Paramount Skydance has taken a major step towards its planned acquisition of Warner Bros Discovery, securing fresh financing and completing the syndication of its bridge loan facility.
In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the company confirmed that the bridge facility has now been distributed among a group of 18 banks, reducing total commitments to $49 billion from an earlier $54 billion. The move spreads risk across lenders and signals growing confidence in one of the year’s largest media deals.
Alongside this, the company has finalised permanent financing arrangements, including $5 billion in senior term loans and a $5 billion revolving credit facility. A previously planned $3.5 billion credit line has been dropped as part of the restructuring.
The loans are secured against key assets, including Paramount Global, Skydance Media and Warner Bros post-merger, underlining the scale and complexity of the transaction.
The financing push follows a competitive bidding process earlier this year, which saw interest from players such as Netflix before Paramount Skydance emerged as the frontrunner. The deal, valued at $111 billion, is expected to close in the third quarter, subject to regulatory approvals.
Adding to the momentum, the company has also secured significant equity backing, including investments from Middle Eastern funds, with support from billionaire Larry Ellison, who has guaranteed the equity portion of the transaction.
Commenting on the development, Paramount Skydance chief strategy officer Andy Gordon said, “Our successful debt syndication and new debt facilities represent another important milestone towards the completion of our acquisition of Warner Bros Discovery.”
Once completed, the combined entity is expected to carry net debt of just under $80 billion, reflecting the sheer scale of the merger.
As Hollywood continues to consolidate in the streaming era, this deal could reshape the competitive landscape, with Paramount Skydance betting big on scale, content and financial muscle to take on global rivals.
